Cotton, does size really matter?

REVENUE of $12.26 million from grower levies and government contribution means the Cotton Research Development Corporation (CRDC) is significantly smaller than the other four corporations on the National Ag Levy Scorecard.

However, according to the 2016-17 annual report, the CRDC batted above average, with a direct research spend of $20.3m.

The difference between revenue and spend is mainly attributed to government grants, with about $6.7m in revenue sourced through a competitive federal grants.

This extra income, on top of about $1m interest on long-term investments, resulted in grower levies being leveraged with the extra government funding.

A headline performance figure from the annual report was an average 3.1 per cent year on year productivity growth to the industry since 2013.